How to Make a Toy Sailboat
Children love to pretend that they are sailing a boat on the high seas and that they are pirates trying to rob treasure chests full of jewels. They can play with a toy sailboat in a mud puddle, a bathtub, a small pond or any enclosed body of water. Making their own toy boat is a creative project that your kids will enjoy, as well as one that is useful in recycling materials.
Things You'll Need
- Milk carton (pint is a good size)
- Scissors
- Smaller box to place inside milk carton (matchstick box or cardboard jewelry box)
- Paint and paintbrush or colored markers
- Construction paper
- String
- Glue
- Plastic straw or stick
- Hole punch or sharpened pencil
Instructions
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1
Cut a milk carton lengthwise, down the center portion, with scissors. An adult needs to do this, or supervise older children.
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2
Shape the milk carton so that both ends are pointed. You can do this by squeezing the end with your fingers.
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3
Paint the milk carton and the smaller box with acrylic paint and a small paintbrush. You can decorate them with colored markers if you prefer.
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4
Poke a hole into the smaller box and glue it down into the center of the sailboat. Allow this time to dry, usually about 10 to 15 minutes. The straw will stand up in this hole.
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5
Cut out a sail from the construction paper. You can make this into a square or rectangle shape, but don't make it larger than one half to three quarters the size of the straw length.
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6
Poke a couple holes into the wide end of the triangle--or on one side of the square--you cut out and thread the straw through the holes. Place a little glue in the hole of the smaller box and stick the straw into it with the sail attached.
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7
Decorate the sail with the paint or markers, or leave it plain.
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8
Wrap a long string around the straw, tie one end to each end of the sailboat, and trim the excess. Your toy sailboat is ready for a test run.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit blue sailboat image by John Hurford from Fotolia.com
